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TURKEY URGES OBAMA TO STOP ARMENIA GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
Agence France Presse
December 20, 2010 Monday 6:19 PM GMT
Turkey's prime minister has written to US President Barack Obama
urging him to prevent a resolution classifying the 1915-17 killings
of Armenians as genocide, the foreign minister said Monday.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his letter described the
resolution in the House of Representatives as a mistake, and called
on Obama to do what he could to intervene, Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted
as saying by Anatolia news agency.
The resolution, which could be debated by the House on Tuesday, calls
on the president to classify the massacre, in which as many as 1.5
million Armenians died, as a genocide.
Turkey in the past has warned that the resolution would harm ties
with the US, and in March it withdrew its ambassador after the House
foreign affairs committee approved the proposed resolution.
Davutoglu said he had discussed the resolution with US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton and urged her to spare no effort in preventing
the resolution.
The World War I-era killings remain a major point of friction between
Armenia and Turkey, with Yerevan saying about 1.5 million people were
killed during massacres and forced marches.
Ankara acknowledges the deaths of between 300,000 and 500,000
Armenians, but says it was not a campaign of extermination.
From: A. Papazian
Agence France Presse
December 20, 2010 Monday 6:19 PM GMT
Turkey's prime minister has written to US President Barack Obama
urging him to prevent a resolution classifying the 1915-17 killings
of Armenians as genocide, the foreign minister said Monday.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his letter described the
resolution in the House of Representatives as a mistake, and called
on Obama to do what he could to intervene, Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted
as saying by Anatolia news agency.
The resolution, which could be debated by the House on Tuesday, calls
on the president to classify the massacre, in which as many as 1.5
million Armenians died, as a genocide.
Turkey in the past has warned that the resolution would harm ties
with the US, and in March it withdrew its ambassador after the House
foreign affairs committee approved the proposed resolution.
Davutoglu said he had discussed the resolution with US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton and urged her to spare no effort in preventing
the resolution.
The World War I-era killings remain a major point of friction between
Armenia and Turkey, with Yerevan saying about 1.5 million people were
killed during massacres and forced marches.
Ankara acknowledges the deaths of between 300,000 and 500,000
Armenians, but says it was not a campaign of extermination.
From: A. Papazian